


The Sad Life of a Demons Wife

by YudeeMarieBrown



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Attempted Murder, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Blood and Violence, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Graphic Description, Kidnapping, Murder, Original Character Death(s), Revenge, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-11
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2019-07-29 10:25:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16262291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YudeeMarieBrown/pseuds/YudeeMarieBrown
Summary: Sesshomaru had agreed to leave Rin in the village. She struggles to get used to living among her own kind. As the years pass and as she grows older, getting along and fitting in with other humans becomes more difficult as they refuse to accept her. Although she struggles, she continues to try to get used to being with them, longing for the love and acceptance of her own kind. Despite her struggles she continues to live a safe life until things take a turn for the worst.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a one shot.  
> Edit: I have decided to make this a story instead of a one shot.

Rin was sitting at the edge of the river in the forest that was near the village. She had been in deep thought. The time for her to make her decision grew near, whether she wanted to stay in the village or leave with Lord Sesshomaru. She thought she had known all along what choice she would make. She thought it was obvious.

She was a foolish child then. She had thought she had it all figured out, but she did not realize how different her and her Lord were until she began to grow into a woman and noticed that her Lord had not changed at all. She began to question herself, and in time began to question her previous decision as well. As she looked towards the midnight sky she went into deeper thought, looking back at every moment someone had warned her of this very thing.

Jakens words rang in her ears. "By the time Lord Sesshomaru's empire is established, you will be gone and burried."

As Lord Sesshomaru turned to leave Rin had tried to follow behind him, but the old monk grabbed her hand.

"Don't go," he pleased, "he is an evil spirit, he is a demon! Not someone a human child should follow."

Rin snatched her arm out of the monks hand. "Let me go!" She demanded.

"Come back girl, humans and demons belong in different worlds."

She ran towards Sesshomaru happily saying "wait for me!"

That day she had decided to follow Lord Sesshomaru, even though she understood what the monk had said was true.

Lady Kaede had asked her what she had wished for.

"To be by Sesshomaru-sama's side of course." She said happily.

Kaede frowned. "And after that?"

Rin cocked her head to the side in confusion. "Nothing more. I wish to be by his side forever."

"I am sorry to say this child, but that is an impossible dream. Youkai and humans live in different worlds. While he continues to keep his youth and strength ye will grow weak and old, and eventually ye will die." Rin had not replied to her, she simply looked at her tea cup contemplating what Kaede was saying.

She never thought she would ever doubt wanting to be by his side but now she wasn't so sure. She looked down at her fingers, putting them up to her lips and whistled lightly. After several minutes of waiting Lord Sesshomaru appeared as a bright ball of light. Rin instantly got up and turned to look at him. He set himself down lightly, taking a few steps towards her.

Rin did not say anything, instead greeting him by touching the side of his face, tracing the red marking on the side of his face with her finger tips. Sesshomaru put his fingers through her hair, combing through it in one stroke. They stood there looking at each other for a moment while he waited for her to speak first.

Rin sighed softly adverting her gaze from her Lord.

"Sesshomaru-sama, may I ask you a question?"

"What is it Rin?"

"When I die," she looked up at him hesitantly. "When I die, will you remember me?"

Sesshomaru's eyes widen slightly in surprise. "...what makes you ask such a thing?"

Rin turned around and sat at the foot of the river again, taking in her knees and resting her chin on top of them sadly. "I do not know. I guess now that I have grown into a woman I have to face the cruel realties of this world."

Sesshomaru sat down under the tree leaning against it beside Rin. "Is that what worries you? You death?"

"Sesshomaru-sama, it is not death that worries me. Death is unavoidable, even to a great daiyokai such as yourself. Everyone who is born is destined to die." She said. "What worries me is that I won't get to spend an eternity with you, all because I was born a weak human."

Sesshomaru was taken aback. He had never thought that she had felt that way about herself. To think that in a moment like this, he would run out of clever and witty things to say.

"That is truly sad milord. One blink is all it will take and before you know it I will be dead and burried." Rin turned her head to look at her Lord, with tears forming at the corners of her eyes. "I felt your pain and your anguish, when you realized that I had died that day. I would never want you to go through that again. Sesshomaru-sama, I think it would be best if you just leave and never come back."

Anger and sadness was evident on his face when he heard the words flow out of her mouth as if they were nothing. He had been prepared for the possibility of her refusing to come with him. But he never thought that it would mean never seeing her again.

"Rin..." Sesshomaru reached for her, cupping her cheek in the palm of his hand. He felt the warmth of her tears falling down his hand. He then lifted her chin, and lightly pressed his lips against hers tenderly. "Even with knowing that someday we will have to part ways, isn't that more of a reason to spend the bit of time we have together?"

Rin cried even harder, covering her mouth as the muffles of her cries escaped in between her finger. 

"Sesshomaru-sama I do want to spend my life with you but, that is not the way I want it to be."

"Even if it is not for an eternity, when you die I will remember you, and when you return to this world we will be together again."


	2. Official First Chapter: Rins Rival, Sakura!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry but I'm really bad with summaries. I do however try my best.

Rin had been sitting at the edge of the river gently washing her Silk kimonos. She had changed a lot since she had started living in the village. Her small round face had become more refined. The fat on her cheeks had decreased, making her dimples more noticeable. Her lips had become full, painted with the lip paint that Sesshomaru had gifted her. Her cheeks were also painted with a pink blush. Her eyes were painted a deep red, giving them a gentle sharpness to her otherwise wide eyes. She no longer walked bare footed, as it was not lady like. Her nails were groomed and painted a beautiful purple and her hair was no longer held up on the side with a pony tail.

Indeed she was no longer a child, but Instead a young lady. She still did the things that she enjoyed doing as a child, such as pick flowers and herbs, spend her time in the wilderness, and although she loved to sing, she no longer sang the childish songs she had as a child. Not only did she sing, but she also played the erhu to accompany her beautiful voice, as she enjoyed to write her own songs.

She spent most of her time helping Kaede, by doing the laundry, gathering herbs and sometimes she even fished or hunted for meat, skills that she had learned during her journey with her beloved Lord. She tried her best to get along with the people in the village, but unless she was helping kaede heal them, they rarely got anywhere near her. Despite her beauty and talents the men were afraid of approaching her. She never understood why that was, she couldn't help but wonder why they did not like her. She thought she had been kind to everyone, still no one wanted to be near her.

Finishing her chores, she placed her now clean kimonos into the basket and made her way back to the village. She hummed to herself quietly, putting her head down as she walked, as she preferred not to draw too much attention to herself, though she knew it did not help much. The expensive kimonos that she wore, the way her silky black hair flowed into the wind as she walked, the way her shoes cracked onto the ground with every step she took always alarmed the villagers of her presense. At that point she stopped humming, grumbling to herself as she felt the eyes of the people following her every move.

She walked faster, wanting to get back to kaedes hut as fast as she could, she she bumped into someone. She fell onto the ground, dropping the basket and the kimonos in them speeding across the dirt ground. Sakura had turned around, annoyed th at someone had bumped into her. When she saw that it was Rin, her nose wrinkled in disgust as if she had had just smelled something foul. "Idiot! Why don't you ever watch where you're going?!" She said angrily.

"I did not mean to run into you." Rin said, dusting her kimono off. She picked up her basket quickly, gathering her kimonos and throwing them in. She wanted to get out of there as fast as she could.

"So what are you not going to bow and apologize after you bumped into me? Or do you think too highly of yourself to do that?" Rin avoided her gaze as she reached for the last kimono. Sakura grabbed the kimono off the ground and held up to examine it. "To think that someone like you would get such fine kimono. Is that why you think yourself so much better than me?"

"I believe no such thing. Now I would greatly appreciate it if you were to return my kimono "

"If you wish for it back, then get on your hands and knees and bow, apologize for your insolence!" Sakura demanded.

Rin stood up straight and held her head up high. "It seems that you are the one who thinks awfully high of herself. You are no monarch therefore I refuse to bow down to the likes of you." Rin held out her hand with her basket on her side. " i ask once again that you give me the kimono."

Sakura had lost her patience with Rin. She took out a dagger and plunged it into the fine silk, leaving a big gaping hole in it. Rin ran up to her, trying to take it back from her. But she threw the kimono back onto the ground and grabbed Rin by her wrist, slapping her across the face. Rin fell onto the ground, her hand rubbing her cheek where she had just been slapped, disdain and hatred evident on her face.

"You think you're so great, with your silk kimonos, fine combs, fine stones, and fine shoes. but you're nothing but a white and disgusting dog, just like that demon you whore yourself with. Maybe next time you will know your place! "

When Rin heard what she had said about her Lord, she got up instantly pushing Sakura onto the ground, and began to slap her repeatedly across her face. Hearing the commotion, the other villagers gathered around them as she continued to beat her. Kaedes had also joined the crowd. Mortified at the violence that she saw her protege commit against a fellow villager, she called Rins name angrily.

She had instantly stopped and got off of Sakura quickly. Kaede approached her looking at her disappointedly. "Just look at her, she's a violent monster!" A villager called out from the crowd.

"She's a demon! "  
"She's possesed!"

"That is enough! " kaede yelled angrily.

"Lady Kaede, this girl-"

"Gather your things and head back to the hut."

Rin gave Sakura one last glare as she gathered her kimonos back into the basket, including the one that was ruined and ran off into the woods. Kaede bowed and apologized to the villagers before following behind her, shaking her head as she mumbled about how disappointed she was.


	3. Chapter 3

Kaede and Rin sat across from each other on the low table in their small kitchen. Rin stared at her hand, silently twidling her fingers nervously. Kaede simply stared at her. She couldn't understand why Rin would act so violently against another villager. Kaede's face strained trying to pin point at what time she had gone wrong.

Kaede is a healer, and although Rin had no interest in healing the villagers like she used to, she still made sure to instill in her the meaning of being one. Being kind and compassionate has always been the foundation of her teachings and that she she's sure she has taught her well. Being a kind and helping others is part of what being a human meant to Kaede, so what was it?

Did she ignore her? Did she forget something a long the way? Did she fail to understand her? Did she neglecting her? Kaede was sure she gave her all the love and care that she deserved, so what had gone wrong. Kaede's expression was that of strain, as if her head was about to explode, yet no matter how hard she went from one memory to the other another, scanning ever inch of her mind that she could, she couldn't remember or even see what it was that she had done wrong.

What did it matter anyway? She was old and wrinkled and her days were numbered. It could be that no matter how much time she spent trying to find the memory, it was probably long gone in the recesses of her mind and it would be futile to try and recover what she could have possibly forgotten. The more time that passed the more she's reminded that each day she's closer to her death. Kaede stood up from where she stood whilst she shook her head, being determined she refused to go out without first doing the best that she could so that Rin could finally be happy amongst her own kind.

She looked towards the kettle where for the past 5 minutes she had been brewing Rins favorite tea. Wait, that was right, the tea. She had been so deep in thought probing through her mind that she had also forgotten she was brewing tea. Kaede took a piece of cloth that was next to the kettle, grabbing the handle of the pot gently being careful not to burn herself. She pored the tea into both their cups and pushed on to to Rins nervous hands.

Rin looked up from her hands and into the lightly colored liquid, inhaling deeply. She smiled, it was her favorite. She took it in her hands carefully, blowing onto the surface of the hot tea gently before taking a sip. She felt the warmth spread through her mouth and throat, feeling the liquid calm her nerve wrecked stomach. She sighed contently, finally feeling calm enough to look at Kaede with strength and courage.

"Now that we have both calmed down, let us discuss what happened." Rin nodded wearily. "Ye have acted violently towards a member of our village."

"Lady Kaede, I-"

Kaede raised her hand up to stop her. "I have always instilled on ye the importance of kindness and compassion. Ye healed people by my side, tending to the sick and assisting the old. Ye know that acts of violence are unacceptable. So why?"

"Before I can answer that question, I have some things to say about your statement." Rin took a deep breath trying to find the correct way to express her thoughts. "I have always respected your teachings. I was always willing to even risk my life to help others. I loved everyone no matter how bad that I was treated. But that to me is a sign of weakness. I will always be kind and compassionate towards others but I will never tolerate and accept other people's mistreatment of me. There is only so much one could indure."

Kaede was taken aback. Mistreatment? But she has never seen anyone mistreating her before. Is that what she had failed to see? "That girl? When has she mistreated ye?"

Rin gripped the opening of her kimono tightly, trying not to feel insulted. "You mean, you have never noticed?" Rin shook her head when Kaede failed to reply. "That stupid girl finds every chance that she gets to make my life miserable!" Rin yelled. "She insulted me, demanding that I bow down to her, she ripped my kimono and slapped me. She insulted Lord Sesshomaru and called me a demons whore."

Kaede was shocked. It was the first she's ever heard of that girl mistreating Rin. But even so..."even so, violence is never the answer child. Ye cannot solve problems of violence with more-"

"Then what is there to do? Just sit there while she continued to berate me and put her hands on me? I have done nothing but be kind and tolerant to that girl and she has done nothing but repay me with hatred and jealousy." Rin got up and began to Pace back and forth, something she did when she was extremely angry.

"Do not even get me started with the other villagers. You heard what they said. I am nothing but an itch they cannot reach. I am an eyesore to them. A pest they cannot get rid of. They never mistreated me like Sakura has, but they have never been kind to me either. They want nothing more than to just pretend I do not even exist. I am not worth anything to them."

Kaede was at a loss for words. She never realized how alone Rin had truly felt. Kaede was already losing her vision, but she could now clearly see that Rin no longer felt happy in the village. She prayed to the spirits day and night hoping that when the time came Rin would decide that she wanted to stay in the village. It seems now that every prayer that she prayed was in vain. Rin suffered silently while she was here thinking Rin was happy.

She dreaded the day Rin was faced with the decision that would change her life forever. "What will ye do now that ye has decided yer no longer happy in the village?"

Rin stopped looking at Kaede with disappointment. Rin also dreaded this day. As much as she loved her Lord, Rin did not want to leave Kaede's side. She wasn't happy in the village but that didn't mean she didn't love her time spent with her beloved guardian. Rin shook her head. I just can't bring myself to leave Kaede's side, but I can no longer tolerate the villagers. What should I do? She made her way towards the entrance of the hit before replying "I need time to think." Kaede was left there to cry by herself. She had failed Rin.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter almost no dialogue but I hope you like it nonetheless. Thank you for everyone that's been reading so far. I said I would update it more often, I'm going to keep my word.

Rin had been sitting near the river near the village, in the middle of the night. She was deep in thought, and disappointed with herself for the past few days. She had hurt Kaede with her words. Rin was always kind to everyone, or she used to be. She remembered the first time she had helped Kaede deliver children. 

When she washed and cleaned the newborn twin girls sango had just given birth too, she smiled happily. She washed them genlty, making sure to hold their heads firmly, gently, lovingly. It was not everyday that she got to see such a miracle occur right before her eyes. She saw the innocence in their eyes, which filled her with hope, warmth and happiness. The cries of a newborn baby hitting her eears for the first time sounded like music to her ears.

She wondered if that is what it felt like to be a sister, as Rin grew up alone with no one to care for her. She was deprived of love, reassurance, attention and kindness, which is why whenever someone was in pain, was saddned or feeling lonely, she wanted to take it all away from them. She would never want to treat another being be it demon or human, the way that she was treated.

She was determined, she wanted to help people. From then on she helped Kaede with making medicines, and potions. She worked hard everyday to memorize all of the herbs and what they were used for, how to mix them, and how much was needed. She never gave up even when she failed. She felt that it was her calling.

As she spent more and more time with Kaede, she began to grow more accustomed to living in the village. Even though she liked her Lord very much, whenever she trimphed in curing an illness no matter how minor it was, she swelled with pride and honor. She felt joy at seeing her patients feel better with the medicines and potions that she mixed or brewed herself. She felt like she could do this as a living.

She did not see her Lord very often, but when he did visit, he began to bring her special gifts. He brought her the finest silk kimonos, the finest Combs, the finest shoes, the finest jewelry and when she was old enough the finest lip pigments and eye shadows. She refused to waer the shoes as first, but for the first time Lord Sesshomaru critisized her.

"Rin, you are my ward, you are no longer a commoner, and you are no longer a child. As my ward you must dress yourself accordingly." The words had shocked Rin, but it also opened her eyes. She looked at her flection in the flowing clear waters of the river and realized that it was true. She no longer was a commoner nor a child, she could not behave as if she was forever as she was now a woman. 

She had went home that day, and for the first time put on everything her Lord had gifted her. When she looked at her reflection on her mirror, she was amazed at how beautiful she appeared. From onwards Rin began to wear her fancy kimonos, her tall shoes, her fine combs, her fine eyeshadows, and her fine lip pigments.

The men in the village paid her no mind before, but when she walked through the village that day and aftwards, the men and young how's began to beg for her attention. They began to give her gifts. They gave her wild rare flowers, ornaments, fine dolls and other things of courtship. But whenever they did this she shooed them away, telling them that she was not interested in them.

Some of these men and young boys were out trying to get the attention of some of the other beautiful women and young girls. When they were in the middle of conversating the men would break their necks when they saw the elegant Rin pass by them, and that engraged the girls, filling them with jealousy hate and making them go into fits of rage whenever they saw her.

They would go home to their mothers, father's, brothers and uncle's spreading false information and rummors about Rin. Soon these family members began to speak ill of Rin to the other villagers as well, and before Rin could even blink everyone in the village began to look at Rin with disdain and disgust.

They stopped asking her for her help, going to Lady Kaede instead. The same people that were fond of Rin the day prior suddenly disliked her. They avoided her, ignored her, and some even dared to insult her behind her backs, making sure that she could hear her. But would they ever say those things to her face? Of course not. Everyone knew she was the ward of the Lord of the West, no one would dare lay a finger on her, until a few days ago that is.

Soon enough, she began to feel loneliness and soon enough began to hate being in the village. Everyone hated her, disregard her, ignore her, mistreat her, no one would even go near her anymore. From then on she stopped mixing and brewing medicines and potions. She stopped delivering the children, she stopped treating their illneses, and eventually hated and disliked them right back.

She would not have that, she would not let them walk over her, no more. Before she used to walk with her head down, avoiding the hateful glares of the villagers, but now she walked looking straight ahead. She used to look away whenever they gave her nasty stares but now she stopped to give them her attention. Yes she would. She would glare at them right back, with her nose up in the air, and with the flip of her hair she would turn and walk away.

The village girls would try to block her path just to take their time to insult her, but Rins face would just crunch up with an annoyed expression on her face, she would then push the girl that was in her way aside saying "you are blocking my path," and continued to stride pridefully.

Rin was no longer the same sweet girl that loved everyone unconditionally. She was now nearly the spitting image of her Lord. Proud, cold, quiet, and arrogant. Yes, she thought herself better than them. It was not because she was beautiful, it was not because she was Sesshomarus ward, it was because she thought they were idiots.

Anything that was said by one person, was believed by everyone. The girls that grew with jealousy were jealous because they thought of themselves as lesser than her. The men that grew angry with her were bitter with themselves because they could never get her to pay them any mind. The mother, fathers, brothers and uncle's, they were angry because they felt as long as she was around, their girls would never be able to marry. 

They were all idiots, a product of their own lack of intelligence and confidence. To her they were the kind people that if they were told to jump off a cliff, they would surely do so. They could not think for themselves, they needed others to do the thinking in their stead. That is why Rin was proud, that is why Rin was arrogant. They put themselves below her themselves. She did not put them there. She did not have to. 

All she had to do was breath the same air as them, and instantly, they became brain dead. Rin scoffed at this. She thought of how ridiculous they were, how stupid and ugly these humans were compared to her, because on the inside she was more beautiful than them. She thought for herself.

Rin shook her head, getting up from the ground and heading towards Kaede's hut. Rin saw her bowl of food waiting for her at the table, but instead she ignored it, going straight to her small room in the bigger than normal hut Lord Sesshomaru had built for them. Sensing that something was amiss, Kaede had followed her there, standing in front of the doorway watching sadly as Rin began to take all of the things that her Lord had gifted her and folding them and stacking them neatly on the ground.

When Rin had finished taking all of her things and setting them up neatly, she approached Kaede looking at her blankly. Not a single tear fell from her face, even though she felt a tremendous sadness in her very being. She took Kaede's hand in hers and with her other one squeezed gently to at least give her some comfort so that she would know she still loved her.

"I am sorry Lady Kaede, but I can no longer stay here. I am leaving." No emotion was evident in her voice. She wanted to show nothing. She no longer wanted to let her walls down. But Kaede understood her. She did not reply, only returning to her room, where she layed down and cried herself to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As I always say I can't write summaries at all, but the story should speak for itself don't ya think?
> 
> I haven't worked on this story in a while, but I made sure I put enough thought into it while I was away. Hope you guys like it.

As Rin made her way to the edge of the village, she heard a familiar voice calling her from afar. Rin stood under a nearby tree, to protect herself from the spring shade, as she waited for Kagome who was waddling towards her.

"Kagome, you have returned from your trip." Rin said a matter of factly.

Kagome was out of breath, despite not having run toward Rin. She grabbed on to the tree, heaving heavily as she held on to her belly, in an attempt to catch her breath. Kagome nodded in reply to Rin's statement.

"Yeah," she said in between her breaths. "I just got back along with sango. Miroku and Inuyasha stood behind in the village to make sure there were no demons lingering."

Rin shook her head disapprovingly. "Kagome, you look as though you are ready to give birth any day. It is not wise to wander about with Inuyasha." Rin said sternly.

Kagome laughed lightly. "I just don't like being alone." Rin nodded understandingly. Kagome raked her brain for the right words. She hadnt seen Rin in a month, and wasn't there to see what really happened, but Rin was a different girl from the one that she met so many years ago.

Kagome did not understand Rin's new behavior. She was not the kind of person to hold grudges or retaliate. Despite all of the things she had to do in the past, she despised violence. It was ironic considering who she was married to. Kagome sighed, when she noticed the bags she assumed to be Rin's clothing.

"Um...I heard about what happened from the villagers."

Rin remained Stern and emotionless on the outside, but on the inside, it angered Rin that Kagome would even bother listening to the villagers.

"Kagome, you still listen to their lies?"

"Rin it isn't that. It's just that, well, with a personality like yours, it's hard for the villagers to understand you. Maybe if you were a bit nicer...things could go back to the way they were."

"Humans are not as simple as you would like them to be, Kagome. You are too naive. You believe that there is good in everyone, and one day, that will come back to bite you."

Kagome looked away from Rin, in an attempt to hide the sadness in her face. Kagome could not comprehend why Rin had changed so much over the years. Before Rin always smiled, laughed and played. She always loved to help others around the village.

She was warm and inviting, and was social, always singing and skipping in the fields. Always dancing and making flower crowns. But now she is cold and distant, and rarely smiles genuinely. She's always going off by herself to practice her singing alone, and if not she trains or does chores. Kagome could not see how things changed so much.

Kagome eyed the bags at Rin's feet once again, and sighed sadly. "Rin, where are you going?"

"Everywhere, I suppose. I just cannot stay here."

Kagome shook her head in disagreement. "Rin, you can't leave, this is your home."

"This is YOUR home, not mine. I never had a home, a place where I was accepted and cherrished by others."

"Common' that's not true, what about me and sango and-"

"Sango tried to kill me." Rin replied harshly.

"Well...it wasn't on purpose, it was Naraku, he forced Sango to-"

"Everyone in this life has a choice. No one forced her. Either way, I have better things to do than to waste the rest of my life here." Rin said bitterly. She always hated the fact that she would die one day, that she would be unable to stay with her Lord forever like she said she would.

"There really is nothing for me here in the village. I think I know what I want to-" Rin was interrupted when she heard a commotion going on the the village. Rin told Kagome to stay where she was, as she went towards the center of the village where to commotion seemed to be coming from.

When she arrived the village was being attacked, and not by what she expected. They were soldiers, whom seemed to be from a city. The soldiers were samurai, and judging from the colors that they wore, they were that of the emperor.

They were grabbing the woman and children and threatening to kill the men. Kagome appeared behind Rin not that long after her. Kagome grabbed an arrow from her quiver without a second thought and pointed it at what seemed to be the general.

"Who are you? And what do you think you're doing with the villagers?"

"We are the emperor's soldiers. We've come to claim the lands of your Lord." The young samurai said.

Rin firmly grabbed Kagomes arm and snatched the bow from her.

Kagome was startled by Rin's sudden actions. "You are with child, you are not allowed to engage in combat! Have you lost your senses?"

"But the village!"

"And what can we do? Without Miroku or Inuyasha, we can do nothing, as we are out numbered by 100 samurai, while we have none!" Rin said angrily.

Kaede came out afterward. She looked furious, especially with the sun setting and the moon threatening to rise. "State yer business." Kaede said calmly. "What doth ye seek?"

"This land is fertile and healthy, and plentiful. Enough for our Lord to grow provisions for the military and to build a mine."

Kaede eyed the man, as if contemplating what should be done. "And what of the villagers? Will they be left with no food or shelter?"

"You will be left with your lives." The man said agressively, whilst drawing his sword. "Burn down their houses and take the women and children! Leave no man alive!" The men began to shoot enflamed arrows at the huts and houses, burning them down, and forcing the villagers out of their houses.

Rin grabbed Kaede and Kagome and ran towards her former hut. She passed them both inside with urgency before going into her room. She grabbed the naginata that and the bows and arrows that she hid inside her closet, and armed herself, before going back towards Kaede.

Kaede gasped, and held onto Rin as if pleading with Rin not to leave them. She could see the horror in her gardians eyes as she held onto her silk kimono agressively. Rin kneeled down, and hugged Kaede, who still refused to let go of her sleeve.

"Lady Kaede, I will go and hold them off, for Sango cannot protect the village alone." Rin gently removed Kaede's fingers off her silk sleeves, which were now torn from the old woman's nails gliding across the delicate fabric.

Rin ran out of the door, and into the chaos. She saw many men being slaughtered trying to protect their daughters from being captured. Rin saw an old man that she recognized, who were one of the only people who were ever nice to her. She rushed to his side, running as quickly as she could.

She tried to pick up the pace as she saw a samurai threaten the old man with his sword, and the young girl hidden behind her grand father. Rin thought quickly as she aimed and shot the arrow.

Before the man could bring his sword down, the arrow came in from one side and out the other, piercing right through his neck. He struggled for air as the man attempted to pull the arrow out, before he fell off his horse, dropping dead onto the ground.

The little girl never seeing a man being killed screamed, horrified at the sight. Rin appeared at their side. She helped the old man up and grabbed the little girl and attempted to guide them to safety, when more samurai stopped and surrounded them.

The same samurai that commanded the rest eyed Rin angrily. He pointed his sword at her and yelled "you filthy whore! You killed my brother, and for that you shall die!"

"You have come here to kill men and rape women, and yet you dare to be upset when someone you care about is killed." Rin laughed at the man. "Hypocrisy at its finest!" Rin put away her bow and replaced it with her naginata.

"Haku, take the child and run far away from the village, as fast as you are able. I will hold them off."

"Lady Rin, you cannot-"

"Just go!" The old man hesitated only for a moment, before he whispered yes and took the child and ran from the surrounding men.

Three of the men came down at her with their Spears, Rin quickly evaded the attack and as hard as she could she ramed her naginata into the horses, cutting two of the horses front legs off and injuring the third.

She then spun and thrust her spear in a stabbing motion and ramed her blade into the man behind her, killing him instantly. The leading samurai, realizing how skilled she was didn't want to risk being killed. So he got off his horse.

The other three men got up from under their horses. She readied her weapon once more when she heard a familiar voice screaming not too far from her. Then she saw the hiraikotsu slashing the men in half violently. The blood splattered all over Rin's face and clothing.

Sango landed by Rin's side catching her hiraikotsu as it flew back into Sango's hand. Rin wiped the specks of blood off her face angrily with the sleeve of her kimono. They both faced oposite of each other, ready to take on the men that surrounded them, and covering each others back.

Rin was about to ready herself once more when she heard screams coming from the direction of her hut. She froze in her place, looking around frantically and realizing that the commanding samurai has disappeared while she was distracted by the others. Rin put away her naginata and retrieved her bow and arrow while Sango fended of the men.

Rin heard the sound of a sword coming from behind her, she ducked in the nick of time and elbowed the man with brute Force before she grabbed an arrow and stabbed him in the back of his neck. With her quick hands she drew another one and shot an arrow at one of the horsemen to her right. It went throw his chest and the man fell off of the horse.

"Sango, hold them off! Kagome and Lady Kaede are in trouble!" Rin hurriedly climbed onto the horse and rode off as fast as she could. Rin arrived at the hut moments later. She jumped off the horse, stumbling as she hit the ground. Rin quickly gotta off the ground, ignoring the pain she felt in her left ankle and made her way into the hut.

Along with the commanding samurai, there were two other men in there with them. Kaede and Kagome both had their arrows pointing at them, but Kaede was old, and Kagome was with child, they were at a huge disadvantage.

The man noticed Rin's presence and turned around to greet Rin. He smiled at her, seemingly pleased with himself with what he's done to the village, and what he was about to do to them.

"Whatever you do, do not lay a finger on them. Or else you will regret your actions." Rin threatened.

The man boomed with laughter, holding on to the wall to stop himself from falling onto the ground. "A pregnant woman, and old hag, and wench dares to threaten me, Haguromo?"

"I have many valuables, silk, gold, Jade, silver, even clothing and shoes from the mainland, I will give these all to you, myself included, if you swear to leave them be."

The man stopped laughing, and his face twisted into that of anger. "Silk, gold, silver? Do you think that would return my brothers life?" He snarled. "Kill the old woman and take the woman!"

The men ran towards Kaede, and stabbed her simultaneously with their sword into her stomach and chest.

"Lady Kaede!" The girls yelled. The men then directed their attention towards Kagome, who was traumatized by Kaedes death. Rin cried out in anger and stabbed one of the men with her naginata, pinning his body against the strong walls of the hut.

The commander took the opportunity and tried to kill Kagome as well, but Rin quickly used her body as a shield and was wounded instead. The sword cut across her back, and Rin began to bleed heavily. "Rin!"

"Hurry and run! I will deal with him!"

"No you can't! You're wounded!"

"Just go, for the sake of your child, stop being selfish and just go! If you die, you won't be the only life that would be lost!"

Kagome nodded, grabbing her bow before she ran out of the hut as one of the other men ran after her. Rin grabbed her naginata and pulled it out of the corpse that was pinned up against the wall. She brought it up and slashed the man down the middle. His blood splattered on Rin's clothing as he fell to the ground.

She was beginning to feel tired from the wounds that she sustained. Rin felt as though she could not keep fighting for much longer.

"I admit, you are one of the most gifted spear fighters I have seen in a long time. A woman who is able to kill so many of my men so easily. I must say I am impressed." He examined Rin, looking at her up and down. "Even the heavy layers of your kimono cannot hide your beauty. You are a true beauty indeed."

He grabbed Rin and slammed her against the wall. Haguromo burried his nose into her neck, and took in her scent deeply. "Such a marvelous beauty. I suppose, I could make you my woman before I kill you." 

The man kissed Rin violently, forcing his tongue into her mouth. She then bit his tongue hard enough to make him bleed and ran to grab Kaedes bow, she quickly shot an arrow through the mans shoulder, grabbed her naginata and ran out of the hut.

As Rin ran past the soldiers and into the forest, she passed by and leaped over many corpses. The very sight of the dead people that she used to know made her sick to her stomach. Many of them were people that despised and belittled her, but even so, no one deserved to die that way.

The enraged Haguromo stamered out of the hut in a dazed and enraged. He ordered his men to search for Rin. With the men chasing after in their horses and the commander leading them, the odds were against her.

Rin tried to run as fast as she could, but her ankle was still sprained, it was a miracle that she could even get away from the village in the first place. As Rin tried to run she heard the hooves of the horses approaching. Arrows began to fly past Rin.

Suddenly Inuyasha appeared from above, using his iron claws to subdue several of the men. While Inuyasha was busy holding off the men, Haguromo went after Rin. Rin was growing tired, she gripped at her chest trying to make the burning in her exterted lungs cease. But she could not stop running, because if she gave up Kaede's sacrifice would have been in vain.

Rin heard the running water grow louder with each step she took. When she saw the cliff appear in front of her, she realized she had no where else to run.

Haguromo stopped a few feet away from her. He then began to laugh angrily. As he approached her, she took several steps back. Each time he moved forward, she stepped back. It continued until she felt her right foot hang off the edge slightly.

"I was considering letting you live, if only you would have allowed me to have you. It is such a shame. You are an immense beauty and yet, now, you will lose your life."

Rin smiled at him. "Whether you allow me to live or die makes no difference. Once you attacked me, your life was forfeit."

It began to rain heavily, by the time Inuyasha finished dealing with the samurai, so he tried to follow Rin's scent. Unfortunately, the rain had washed Rin's scent away. He decided to instead try to listen for foot steps or voices. When he heard a strange voice speaking from afar, Inuyasha followed it. 

Inuyasha was making his way towards Rin, when he saw Haguromo ready his arrows and shoot them at Rin. Rin was struck with the arrows and fell down the cliff. Inuyasha was too late. Haguromo ran off into the forest and away from Inuyasha.

He leaped towards Rin as fast as he could. He attempted to grab Rin's hand, but he was only a centimeter too far, and Rin fell to her death.


	6. Chapter 6

Inuyasha and the others had to spend the rest of the night burring their dead. The corpses that had littered the village were mostly men, and the women were taken by the samurai of the emperor.

The houses were burned down, and the men, women and children were mostly gone. Now the village was nothing but a grave yard, a distant memory.

The only hut that survived the tragedies was Rin and Kaede's hut. All of Rin's valuables were gone, stolen by the samurai who destroyed the village.

They could not even rebuild the village Rin risked her life to protect in honor of her memory. They could do nothing, but burry their dead and mourn Kaede's death. Despite the sadness that they felt they had to leave the village and settle somewhere else.

That was not even the worst part. The worst part was sesshoumaru finding out about Rin. Inuyasha shivered. He feared what his brother might do to the men that killed Rin.

Sesshoumaru was never fond of humans. Even though he gained an understanding of the value of Rin's life, and gained a bit of compassion, that still did not change him.

The life that he valued, cherished and protected was that of Rin's. He cared about no one else. If he even bothered to protect the village, it was because if he did not, Rin would be killed along with the rest of those, "fleeting humans" as Sesshoumaru often referred to them.

The thought of Rin dying or even getting a single scratch on her was taboo to him. Something that was forbidden to even be spoken about. If they did not find Rin, ALIVE, then, they could consider their lives forfeit.

Inuyasha may have been able to beat Sesshoumaru in the distant past, but even he had to admit to himself, that he as a half demon could not compare to his older brother, who did not need his father's power to lean on.

Sesshoumaru was now in a league of his own. Matter of fact, he always was. If it was not for the power of his father's fang, he would have suffered defeat at his brothers hand. And now that his brother had a fang of his own, equipped with a power that surpassed that of their fathers, Inuyasha did not even want to imagine what would become of him.

Since Sango and Miroku had children of their own, and Kagome was pregnant, Inuyasha encouraged them to move along without him, while he went out on his own to find Rin.

Since it was still raining the next day, Rin's scent was completely washed away, and so he had no way of tracking her. He searched high and low, back forth but still there was no trace of her.

It was nearly sun set, and Inuyasha was far away from the village. He doubted he would find her at that point. Judging from what Kagome said, Rin had a sprained ankle, and was fatally wounded before she ran out into the forest.

Combined with the arrows that were shot at her and the height that she fell from, Inuyasha could not help but doubt that Rin still even had a life at all anymore.

If Inuyasha remembered correctly, there was the sound of water coming from the very bottom of the cliff, and it happened to be raining last night, so what was likely was that she fell into the river and was washed away by the current.

With any luck, if her wounds were not too severe, she could have survived the ordeal, and simply floated somewhere else, instead of drowning. If he could find a suitable path of that river, he could find Rin. That is, of course if she did not succumb to blood loss.

Inuyasha growled in frustration. Every time he thought of a reason there would be a good chance that Rin survived he ended up contradicting himself. He could not even sleep with all the thoughts running through his mind.

 

Many of the samurai's men survived their encounter with the famous half demon. They all gathered not too far off from the village, but far away enough where they would not be located so easily.

The tent where the emperor stayed was large and extravagant. He had a lot of the luxuries from the palace in his tent. His bed and furniture was that of the finest qualities, fit for an emperor such as himself.

The men were gathered outside in the camp with the emperor, and his right hand man, Haguromo sat at his side. The military celebrated their victory in claiming the village that the famous half demon Inuyasha protected.

With the genius of the emperor they were able to conquer many seemingly impossible obstacles. Including conquering the village of the half demon.

They danced and sung their folk songs, and celebrated in name of the emperor. They raised their cups above their head offering a toast to him. "Long live the emperor! Blessings of a thousand years to the emperor, may you conquer many lands!"

While the emperor drank his wine and ate his food, one of his most trusted eunuchs scurried towards Haguromo and whispered something in his ear. The eunuch bowed and scurried away in a hurry.

The emperor eyed Haguromo, who made an angry face and glared in the direction of the river that was nearby.

"Why do you make such a horrid face? You are ruining my lunch."

Haguromo snapped out of his thoughts and quickly bowed to the emperor. "Please pardon me your majesty. It is that woman that I told you about."

"The one that killed your brother?" The emperor asked. Haguromo nodded nervously. "What about her?"

"The eunuch told me that he found her floating about down the river. I would like to finish her off and avenge my brothers death." Haguromo said, trying to stop the anger from escaping into his voice.

"Please excuse me sire." Haguromo bowed once more before turning to leave.

"Wait." The emperor ordered. He got up from his small table and walked up to Haguromo. "I have heard that this women was skilled, so much so that she killed several of my men. They even said she is more beautiful than Noble Consort Himiko. I want to see it for myself."

Haguromo faced the emperor and shook his head. "Your majesty, that is nothing short of blasphemy. How could a human woman be more beautiful than Noble Consort Himiko?"

Upon hearing what Haguromo said, the emperor shot him a death glare, and Haguromo instantly coward in fear. He threw himself onto the ground and bowed several times.

"If you dare question me again, I will end you."

The emperor went to the river and Haguromo followed behind him. When they arrived, they saw the men were gathered around a single person. When they noticed the emperor they bowed and greeted him, and stepped aside to allow the emperor to see the women everyone spoke of.

The emperor bent down and examined the woman. The woman had big brown eyes, dark hair and full small lips and mouth. They were painted red, and her eyes had purple eye shadow.

Her face was indeed beautiful. It was hard to believe at first, but she was even more beautiful than the imperial noble consort, Himiko.

The emperor was captivated by the woman and further examined her. He noticed that the kimono that she was wearing was of the finest silk with originating from the western lands.

It was stained with blood, and the women was injured with one arrow in the the leg and the other one in her shoulder. She also had an empty quiver tied at her back and a bow clinging tightly to her shaking hand.

He thought the woman was strange as the bow was held in her right hand, which meant that she shot the arrows with her left. The woman shook violently, as she laid upon the grass.

His train of thought was interrupted by Haguromo. "Your majesty, now that you have had a look at the woman, allow me to take care of her."

The emperor glared at Haguromo, feeling annoyed with his desperation to end the woman's life. "No need. Just send for the imperial physician."

"But your majesty-"

"Have you forgotten my warning?"

"I- I would not dare."

The eunuch from earlier scurried away and returned with the imperial physician who took the woman away.

It was night fall by the time Inuyasha found the river. He spotted Rin's naginata floating by and quickly went to retrieve it. He searched for any sign of Rin but to no avail, he could not even catch her scent, despite the fact that the rain had already subsided.

He had sighed in defeat. Inuyasha headed back to the village. Maybe if he investigated there thoroughly he could find some clues about the man that had killed Rin.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story has been ignored for a while on and off. But whenever I ignore it but then go back to it, I end up writing something that was ten times better than the partially done chapter I had in my drafts. And at times I end up writing chapters back to back in a short period of time. I'm not very consistent with how I update my stories, but I know that when I take a break the moment I come back that's when I do my best work. Does that happen whenever you write, or are there other ways that you guys get inspired?

Jaken ran through the palace frantically. He dodged, ran passed and under servants. They yelped, screamed and fell as Jaken ran passed them as if he were a mouse running from a cat. The palace soldiers simply dodged him or stepped aside, not wanting to listen to Jaken's lectures or outbursts. 

Jaken yelled for Sesshoumaru as he neared the door in the back of the south corridors, and burst right through them.

“Lord Sesshoumaru! It’s an emergency!”

“Sesshoumaru, it looks as though you have failed to educate your servants.” The Eastern Lord said angrily.

Sesshoumaru glared at the Eastern Lord. “Yes, and your father had failed to find a suitable heir.”

The southern Lord laughed behind her fan. Jaken scrambled to get to his knees, and bowed several times. “Please spare my life! I would not interrupt if it wasn’t important! Oh have mercy Lord Sesshoumaru!”

Sesshoumaru shot Jaken another glare. “That depends on what you tell me.”

Jaken sighed in relief. At least he had a chance to keep his life. “There’s an old man outside the palace who’s insisting on speaking with you. He’s from Rin’s village milord! The village is a long ways from here after all. If it wasn’t important, he wouldn’t come all the way here! I suspect it has to do with Rin!”

The Northern Lord scoffed. “All this ruckus over some human village. They probably got attacked by demons. That happens everyday, nothing to make a fuss over.”

The southern Lord huffed. “That is why you are just mere lords and not emperor’s.”

Sesshoumaru eyed the woman dangerously. “So what are you trying to say?” the Eastern Lord intersected. “Sesshoumaru is a Lord as well. Are you saying that he is incompetent.”

“As the westerners say, if the shoe fits, wear it.”

Sesshoumaru got up from his chair, and Jaken got up from his kneeling position in a panic, scurrying to follow behind his Lord. With every few steps he took, he quickened his pace, while Jaken struggled to keep up with his lord. His small legs and feet struggled and he began to trip over his own feet.

“Lord Sesshoumaru, wait for me!” Jaken cried. The doors to the palace opened, and Sesshoumaru spotted the old man with a young child hiding behind him. He knew it could not have been Rin, since it had been several years, and humans aged much faster than demons did.

Sesshoumaru instantly became annoyed at the fact, that Rin’s life was just as fleeting as the next man’s. He approached the old man, who bowed in respect to the western Lord. The child also mimicked him, and the old man stepped a little closer to get a good look at the demon.

“It is as Lady Rin described you.” The old man said bowing once more. “Greetings Lord Sesshoumaru, I am Haku, one of Lady Rin’s close friend.”

Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow at the old man. He was taken by surprise by the fact, that the old man referred to Rin with a title. “Why have you come here old man?”

“The village was attacked and conquered by the empires soldiers. They took many women and children, and killed mostly all the males as well as Lady Kaede.”

“Lady Rin is a skilled warrior who aided in protecting the village. In order to protect me she killed the commanders brother, and that caused him to exact revenge against Lady Rin.”

“Exact revenge?” Sesshoumaru repeated aloud.

The old man nodded. “We were surrounded by the men, when Lady Rin told me to run into the forest. I had hid behind the trees when I spotted Lady Rin running away from the commander. They exchanged some words before the man shot her with several arrows, and…” the old man’s voice began to tremble. “The most honourable lady Rin fell down the mountain to her death!”

Sesshoumaru's fist clenched, and his jaw tensed as his face changed from indifference to pure rage. Jaken ran from him and hid behind a bush near the gates, cowering in fear. “That useless half breed failed to protect Rin! Milord we should.-“ Jaken was then hit by a seemingly stray pebble, making him fall on his back and out of the bush.

“Jaken, escort the man and his child into the palace. Give them clothing and shelter.”

Sesshoumaru turned away from the old man and exited through the palace gates. “Lord Sesshoumaru! What of the other Lords?”

“Tell them to leave.”

“Why do I always get stuck with the worst jobs.” Jaken grumbled under his breath. Jaken got hit with a larger rock and fell onto the ground and the old man and young child followed a servant into the palace.

Inuyasha had been sniffing around all over the village, crawling around on all fours, and searching for any signs of a lingering scent of that man that he could follow. But all he could detect was the stench of a rotten demon, closing in on him at an alarming speed.

Inuyasha scratched his nose violently in an attempt to get the scent out of his nose. The ball of light shot high up through and past the tall trees and crashed 5 feet away from Inuyasha, leaving a small crater upon the earth where it landed.

The ball changed into that of a tall figure, whose long hair went into the direction of the small current of the wind. The figure stepped out of the cloud of dust and there, Sesshoumaru appeared before Inuyasha.

He glared at his brother, showing his anger through his golden eyes, with his Moko-Moko floating in sync with his hair in the wind. Inuyasha growled. “Sesshoumaru.”

“Inuyasha.” Sesshoumaru hissed. “I have heard that you have failed to protect Rin.”

Inuyashas breath caught in his throat. He scratched the back of his ear nervously. “Huh? I don’t know what you’re talkin about. Maybe you heard wrong.”

Sesshoumaru walked past Inuyasha angrily, not liking the way that he was being patronized. He made his way towards Rin and Kaede’s old hut, where Rin’s scent and the scent of death still lingered. Inuyasha quickly blocked his path, “Rin ain’t in her hut.”

“Inuyasha! Do not test my patience. Step ASIDE.” He growled, baring his teeth.

Inuyasha moved away from Sesshoumaru, not wanting to pick a fight with his brother at a time like this. Sesshoumaru continued on the path to Rin’s hut. There were many freshly buried bodies beneath the patches of soften soil. Sesshoumaru wrinkled his nose as he drew closer to the hut.

Sesshoumaru breathed in the smell of blood and death in the air. He opened the door to the hut and stepped inside. The first thing that he noticed, was the large hole in the wall, that was stained with blood. Upon closer inspection, he could tell that someone had been pinned and ramed through with a heavy weapon.

Due to the size and shape of the hole, he came to the conclusion that it was made by Rin’s naginata. He recognized the shape and size, as he was the one had totosai craft it for her. He followed the splatter of the blood on the wall with his eyes, and found the pool of dried blood that stained the floor.

It seemed that Rin had ripped the naginata out of the victim and he fell and bled out there. Next to the pool of blood he detected a familiar scent.

Despite the slight difference in scent, he was absolutely certain that it belonged to that wench Kagome. There he found blood that belonged to Rin. It only proved the old man right. Rin had been heavily wounded.

Sesshoumaru turned and saw another pool of blood near the floor on the corner, and scratches that was made in the ground. The blood had definitely belonged to the old priestess. Sesshoumaru huffed.

He turned around to face the door, where blood belonging to two different people lingered there. That of Rin’s and the other of an unfamiliar person. He concluded that Rin had run out of the hut after injuring said person in self defense, and the other person went after her.

Sesshoumaru entered Rin’s room. Her scent was the strongest there, but there were three other scents of people that had been there periodically. The closet was empty. Not a single piece of jewelry or clothing remained there. The only thing that he found was Rin’s naginata that was covered in the half breeds stench.

Sesshoumaru took the naginata and left the hut, not feeling it was necessary to investigate any further. He found Inuyasha waiting outside the hut. Inuyasha eyed the weapon that Sesshoumaru balanced over his shoulder.

“It is obvious that Rin had used this weapon to defend the old woman and that wench of yours, so why is it covered in your scent?”

Inuyasha did not dare reply without thinking first. He could tell that Sesshoumaru was itching to kill something, anything to take his anger out on. At that point what was the use now? He knows that someone did something to Rin. All he could do was give his brother some information that could help find her.

“I found it floating down a river.” Inuyasha said. “But there was no sign of Rin.”

“Where is the priestess?”

“Kagome left with Sango to the demon slaying village.” Inuyasha knew that his brother had no intention of hurting Kagome, and strangely enough he trusted his brother to remain civil. He gave Sesshoumaru the direction of the village, and Sesshoumaru took off, not wasting anymore of his precious time there.

Rin had woken up in a daze. She felt a lingering pain on her back, leg and shoulder. She touched the bandaged shoulder lightly. She detected the scent of medicine. She has never smelled anything like it before, but she could tell it was the high quality stuff that Kaede kept in her hut, but only used for infected wounds.

Infection? She put her hand up to her forehead and wiped the sweat that seeped from under the bandage. Her head was pounding violently, so she rubbed it in an attempt to sooth her pain.

Rin looked around, trying to make sense of how she ended up there. The last thing she remembered was falling off the cliff and into the river, before she fainted from hitting her head on a rock under the water. She was certain she would not survive it. It seemed she just had amazing luck, as she evaded death a third time.

She scoffed to herself. Her thoughts were interrupted when a young man wearing clothing of a rich physician came in with a fine dressed man following behind him. The physician appeared to be in his thirties, but the other man appeared to be around Rin’s age maybe a little older.

The younger man was the one that caught her attention the most. His hair was as black as the bottom of an abyss, and as blue as the midnight sky. His eyes were a beautiful blue, which glowed like a gem reflecting off the sun.

He wore the most beautiful kimono she had ever seen. It was black with the border of the sleeves and the bottom of the kimono being gold in color. It seemed as though the gold thread was weaved into the fabric. The kimono had a red shivering dragon sewn into it.

The emperor chuckled lightly, giving Rin an amusing look. “It is rude to stare.” He pointed out.

Rin got up and walked passed the imperial physician, and stood face to face with the emperor. She looked him up and down and flipped her hair. “I was not staring, I was simply observing.” Rin looked away from him, and eyed the imperial physician. “Who are you?” she asked.

“I am imperial physician, Akihito.” He bowed respectfully.

“it was you who tended to me?”

“As his majesty ordered.”

Rin eyed the emperor suspiciously. “So you are a monarch?” The emperor nodded. “Where are my weapons?” she demanded.

“Milady, you mustn’t anger his majesty.”

Rin scoffed, and gave the emperor an arrogant grin. “Anyone who angers me is digging his own grave. Just like that piece of filth Haguromo!” Rin said angrily. “When I find him, I will end him.” She said shaking her finger angrily.

“A woman with a temper like yours, that is not very lady like.”

Rin chuckled. “Are you mocking me, emperor? That man killed my grandmother, right before my eyes. Do I not have a right to kill him?”

The emperors smile was replaced by anger. Rin was used to dealing with demons like him. He would not intimidate her, no matter how powerful his aura was. “Are you not afraid to die? Threatening a court official is a capital offense punishable by death.”

“I imagine I already killed one. His brother was a court official too, and yet, here I am, still breathing the same air as you.”

The emperor's smile returned to his face. He grabbed Rin by her face and lifted it to force her to look him in the eye. “How could I bare to kill such an exquisite beauty? I have a better way to punish you.” The emperor threw his arm aside and tucked behind his back.

He turned to look at the imperial physician who had an astonished look on his face. He stared at Rin, visibly shocked that the woman did not fear this powerful demon. What was more, she spoke to him however she felt like, disrespected him in front of his subjects, and still, the woman drew oxygen from the air that they shared.

“Take her to Imperial Noble Consort, tell her I want this woman dressed and prepared properly.”

Rin was taken to the noble consorts lady in waiting, who then took her to a private bath room. She filled the bath with flower pedals and added essential oils, making it smell heavenly. The woman ripped Rin’s kosode off and helped her into the bath.

Rin breathed in the lovely scents coming from the water. She never enjoyed such luxuries despite looking the part. The water was steamy and warm, and it helped Rin’s still sore muscles relax. Rin’s wounds have almost completely healed, which made her wonder how long she was out.

She recalled bits and pieces of what had happened to her after she fell into the river. She remembered being pulled out by some men, being carried away by the physician, women removing her clothes and applying ointments to her wounds, and then being dressed once again.

She remembered fading in and out of consciousness and at times saw the physician and the emperor talking about her condition, but she never once was able to stay awake for more than a minute. What was more strange was why the emperor even concerned himself so much with a mere commoner.

Rin laughed at herself. Commoner. It was true that Rin was born a commoner, but at the end of the day she was trained by the most skilled swordsman chosen by Sesshoumaru himself, had the best writer of their time the protégé of the very Murasaki Shikibu teach her to read and write in both Chinese and Japanese and was the ward of a Lord.

How could she believe herself to still be a commoner? Rin was still a woman a prestige, and was educated, she was had not been a commoner for a long time. Rin laughed at the fact the fact that she dared to forget her own place. She spoke, walked, dressed and behaved like a woman of nobility.

She snapped out of it when she felt a stinging sensation in her shoulder. The servant gasped and bowed apologizing and asking for her life to be spared. “Did you just ask me to not kill you?”

The girl nodded not daring to look at Rin. “How foolish. As if I would kill someone over something so petty. Maybe a quick little glare, but to kill someone over this…that is beneath me.” The servant stared at Rin, shocked.

The soldiers in the army spoke about the beautiful woman who slayed many of their men and even challenged the emperor himself in front of one of his subjects. How could a dangerous and arrogant woman like her spare a measly servants life?

“Where are my clothes? I think I am done bathing.” The servant gave Rin no reply, she could only stare at in. Rin gently waved her hand in the servants face. The servant was startled out of her thoughts and retrieved a kimono. One Rin had never expected to see ever again.

In her opinion the emperor was being a bit too kind. The servant put the kimono aside and grabbed a towel from the bench and moved to dry Rin’s body, but Rin attempted to take the towel from the servant, to which she held onto tightly.

“Milady, the emperor has given me to you as a servant. If you do not allow me to complete my tasks, then he will punish me.” The servant gently pulled the towel out of Rin’s hands. “Please do not be difficult and allow me to dry you.”

Rin spread out her arms and allowed the servant to dry her body. On the outside Rin was composed, but on the inside, she felt troubled. Why would the emperor give her a servant? Why did he spare her life? Why was she brought back to his palace? Why? Rin could not help but to fear for the worst.

It was midday when Sesshoumaru made it to the demon slayers village. Sesshoumaru waited patiently outside. Kagome waddled out of the village gates and greeted him. “Ni-san.”

Sesshoumaru’s eyebrow twitched slightly. Even after all these years, his brothers woman continued to refer to him as her brother and he could never get used to it. “Kagome.” Sesshoumaru greeted back. “I believe you know why I am here.”

Kagome gave Sesshoumaru a pitiful look. She took in a deep breath. “Yeah, Rin.”

“Give me a description of the man who attacked you.”

“Hmm.” Kagome rubbed her chin, trying to search her mind for anything she remembered of the man. Anything that could properly identify him. Kagome then snapped her fingers. “Yes! I remember some things! The man said that his name was Haguromo.”

“And what of the armor that they wore. Anything distinctive about it?”

“Actually, I think the Armor that this Haguromo guy wore was different from all the others. But the left side of the armor had a dragon symbol sewn into it.”

“And what of his subjects, what colors did they wear?”

“They wore blue clothing, under their armor. There wasn’t anything special about the armor they wore though.”

Sesshoumaru turned to leave without another word, leaving Kagome talking to herself. Kagome was already used to Sesshoumaru being, well, Sesshoumaru, so she took care not to feel offended.

Sesshoumaru walked through the forest as he always had. He always used the opportunity to think, and now that Jaken was not there to disturb him with his constant mindless chatter, he could do it in peace. 

He remembered that the demons of the serpent clan wore blue clothing under their armor. He only knew one demon who was from the serpent clan. That damn Kinosuke. It was one thing to go and conquer lands, but why did he have to go and take his ward?

The last time he saw Kinosuke, he was just a feudal lord, like the rest of them. So how did this man gain so much military power in so little time? How was he suddenly…

An Emperor?


End file.
